Norah Jones Sings "Don't Know Why" on Sesame Street

Adventure Playgrounds

Berkeley’s Adventure Playground is one of a handful of playgrounds in the United States based on a concept that grew in popularity after World War II. During the Nazi occupation of Denmark, the landscape architect C. Th. Sørensen created a new playground with whatever junk was available. It turned out, that’s exactly what kids like. “The simplicity of the concept is still startling,” writes Susan Solomon. read more

My name is Dan Meyer and I like to teach.

http://blog.mrmeyer.com/

the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family

Bowen family systems theory is a theory of human behavior that views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit. It is the nature of a family that its members are intensely connected emotionally. Often people feel distant or disconnected from their families, but this is more feeling than fact. Family members so profoundly affect each other's thoughts, feelings, and actions that it often seems as if people are living under the same "emotional skin." People solicit each other's attention, approval, and support and react to each other's needs, expectations, and distress. The connectedness and reactivity make the functioning of family members interdependent. A change in one person's functioning is predictably followed by reciprocal changes in the functioning of others. Families differ somewhat in the degree of interdependence, but it is always present to some degree.

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Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

paper leaf lamp

this retro book from the 70's inspired
us to decorate our Ikea lamp
it took around 20 min. from the picking the leafs in the garden to taping them inside the lamp - and the kids 'woooooooo' when the light went on...

haleluya! our firsts baby birds[9!!] in the tree

glen!!

the sartorialist

great street fashion blog:



"I thought I could shoot people on the street the way designers looked at people, and get and give inspiration to lots of people in the process. My only strategy when I began The Sartorialist was to try and shoot style in a way that I knew most designers hunted for inspiration. Rarely do they look at the whole outfit as a yes or no but they try and look for the abstract concepts of color, proportion, pattern mixing or mixed genres. I’m always really happy when I meet a designer and hear that they use some of my photos for their inspiration boards. At the same time I’m also really touched when I get emails from everyday people who say they have been inspired to see themselves and others in a new and usually more accepting way."

http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

The King of Masks

The film is about a street performer named Wang who practices the change-mask opera art of bian lian as "The King of Masks".
Seeking to pass his art to a grandson, Wang buys what he believes to be an orphan boy at an illegal child market, but quickly learns his new disciple is in fact a girl.
As tradition dictates that he cannot pass his art onto a girl, he tries to abandon her, but she stubbornly stays with him.
While looking at his masks, she accidentally sets his humble residence on fire. Out of guilt, she runs away.
When Wang is falsely accused of kidnapping a rich family's child, he is thrown in jail. His former disciple goes to one of his friends, a famous performer in the local opera, threatening to kill herself if he or any of his guests, including a local military leader, are unable to help Wang.
The King is eventually freed, and finally agrees to teach her the art of bian lian.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_of_Masks

about the director
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Tianming

my five kids [aging 3-13] and me were glued to the screen, this is a beautiful story of the power of a small girl.

wolves

An elder Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life.
He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, and resentment. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship,, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

"The same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too", he added.

The grandchildren thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee replied, "The one you feed."